JPL D-102207 Pasadena, California Revision Date Pages Affiliated Description Final 9/04/2018 All Initial Release ii JPL D-102207 Contents 1 UTILIZATION PLAN OVERVIEW ...................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 MISSION AND PLAN OVERVIEW ....................................................................... 1-1 1.2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 1-2 2 ADVANCING APPLICATIONS WITH NISAR................................................................... 2-1 2.1 APPLICATIONS OVERVIEW ................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.1 Ecosystems ..................................................................................................... 2-2 2.1.2 Hydrology and Subsurface Reservoirs ......................................................... 2-3 2.1.3 Marine and Coastal Hazards ......................................................................... 2-3 2.1.4 Critical Infrastructure..................................................................................... 2-4 2.1.5 Geologic and Anthropogenic Hazards .......................................................... 2-5 2.2 NISAR TARGETED APPLICATIONS .................................................................... 2-6 2.3 EARLY ENGAGEMENT .......................................................................................... 2-6 2.3.1 Application Area-Specific Workshops ......................................................... 2-6 2.3.2 Application Working Groups ........................................................................ 2-8 2.3.3 NISAR Envoy Program ................................................................................. 2-9 2.4 SAR LITERACY AND CAPACITY BUILDING ................................................. 2-10 2.4.1 Library of Educational Resources ............................................................... 2-10 2.4.2 Online Virtual SAR Lab .............................................................................. 2-11 2.4.3 Relevant NASA Applied Science Program Elements ............................... 2-11 2.5 BEYOND NISAR DATA TO ACTIONABLE INFORMATION ........................ 2-12 2.5.1 Stakeholder Capability Development: Identify Needs .............................. 2-13 2.5.2 Information Product (L3+) Generation ...................................................... 2-13 2.5.3 Data Archives and Distribution................................................................... 2-14 2.5.4 Demonstrating Utility .................................................................................. 2-16 2.6 URGENT RESPONSE APPLICATIONS .............................................................. 2-16 2.7 POST-LAUNCH ACTIVITIES ............................................................................... 2-17 3 IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ......................................................................... 3-1 3.1.1 NASA Headquarters NISAR Project ............................................................ 3-3 3.1.2 NISAR Applications Coordinators ............................................................... 3-3 3.1.3 NISAR Project at JPL .................................................................................... 3-4 3.1.4 Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) ............................................... 3-5 3.1.5 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) ............................................ 3-5 3.1.6 Broader Stakeholder Community ................................................................. 3-5 3.2 NASA APPLIED SCIENCE MISSION APPLICATION PLAN ........................... 3-6 3.3 SCHEDULE ................................................................................................................ 3-8 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 4-8 5 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 LEVEL 1 & LEVEL 2 REQUIREMENTS FOR URGENT RESPONSE .............. 5-1 iii JPL D-102207 5.1.1 NISAR Level 1 Urgent Response Requirement .......................................... 5-1 5.1.2 NISAR Level 2 Urgent Response Requirements ......................................... 5-1 5.2 ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................. 5-2 iv JPL D-102207 1 Utilization Plan Overview 1.1 MISSION AND PLAN OVERVIEW The NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a partnership between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), currently scheduled to launch in late 2021 and to have a minimum mission lifetime of three years. The mission is optimized for studying hazards and global environmental change, specifically in support of its three core science disciplines: Ecosystems, Cryosphere, and Earth Surface and Interior. The satellite is designed to provide a detailed view of the Earth to observe and measure some of the planet's most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards. In addition to its science requirements, the mission has a requirement to be capable of supporting disaster response through expedited event-driven downlinking, processing, and delivery of relevant data (See Appendix 4.1). As for all NASA missions, NISAR data will be openly available, free of charge. NISAR will utilize two synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments operating at different frequencies to study the Earth. NASA will provide an L-band SAR and ISRO will provide an S- band SAR. Table 1 shows some of the mission instrument and imaging parameters, and the types of measurements that they enable. NISAR’s L-band radar instrument will provide all- weather, day/night imaging of nearly the entire land and ice masses of the Earth, and the S-band instrument will provide additional coverage of India and parts of the polar regions. Most areas will be imaged 4-6 times per month, with exact repeat of the orbits at 12-day intervals. NISAR’s imaging resolution will be 3-50 meters, depending upon the operating mode. The repeat orbit images can be used to identify and track subtle movement of the Earth’s land using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) that can detect small-scale surface deformation before it is visible to the eye. Consistent, repeated, frequent, and long-term imaging enables dynamic tracking of changes as conditions evolve (situational monitoring). Although the three science disciplines drive NISAR mission requirements, there are a wide variety of applications and other science topics that can also benefit from early and sustained engagement between the various elements of the NISAR program and the broader user community throughout NISAR’s development, launch and operation. A series of Table 1 – NISAR characteristics and capabilities. 1-1 Use or disclosure of information contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the Cover Page of this proposal. JPL D-102207 white papers highlight a number of the applications that the mission can support (https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/applications/). The NISAR Utilization Plan (UP) document describes NASA’s plan to engage the stakeholder community and increase the utility, accessibility and discoverability of NISAR data by: • demonstrating the value of the NISAR mission within a broad societal context, • supporting activities that engage a diverse user community, • educating a broader community on the utility of SAR data, • working with interested end users to develop information products, and • contributing to an observation plan and data delivery schedule that facilitates both science and applications within mission constraints. It is written for interested parties, be they in the stakeholder community, at NASA centers, academia, or elsewhere. This plan includes input and contributions from the broader stakeholder community including universities, state and federal agencies, commercial sector, non-profits, as well as the cognizant components responsible for development and implementation of the NISAR project including NASA Headquarters, the NISAR Project at JPL, the Applications Coordinators, the NISAR Science Team, the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) Data Active Archive Center (DAAC), and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The plan articulates each stakeholder’s responsibility and the associated support (financial or otherwise) in each activity. Planned activities were informed by community input in both the 2014 and 2015 NISAR Applications Workshops (2014 NISAR Applications Workshop Report; 2015 NISAR Applications Workshop Report) with additional input from the NISAR Science Team selected in 2016. The report is divided into three sections: 1) an overview of the Utilization Plan and NISAR’s goals and objectives for advancing the utilization of its data products for applications; 2) specific activities to be undertaken to achieve the applications goals and objectives; and 3) the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, NASA headquarters, the NISAR Project, and NISAR Applications Coordinators, among others, in implementing the Utilization Plan. A separate document, the NISAR Urgent Response Plan, presents activities and protocols for urgent response